2003 Newsletters

Our meetings commence at 3.00 pm but at 2.45 we meet for a cuppa
and a chat and then settle to a brief business meeting which is followed by a speaker. Why
not join us for this first meeting of 2003! Visitors are welcome!

A special exhibition of photographs and clippings of the Miss Inverloch
Carnivals was held at our November meeting. Mrs Eulalie Brewster spoke, firstly about the
Regatta Days of the early 1900s and then of an Aquatic Carnival arranged in 1924 by the
Inverloch Foreshore Committee. This was held on Boxing Day and at night a Grand Ball was
held. On New Year's Day the Inverloch Racing Club held a race meeting. Then in 1933, a
Miss Inverloch Carnival was held. Flat and novelty races were held and a special
children's day was included. On New Year's Day there were various water events and the
first Miss Inverloch Contest was held. There is a gap in our knowledge of the events and
the earliest reference we have for the Contest is 1936-37. Photographs displayed of Miss
Inverloch were from 1950 - 61. In 1976-77 the Miss Inverloch Contest lapsed. Councillor
Joyce Joiner, of Woorayl Council told the Progress Council, in 1979, she would like to see
it revived as it was the best publicity stunt the town ever had. So in 1980 it was
revived. Then in 1981, there were two Miss Inverloch Contests in different locations of
the town. Only one was held in 1982 and included a Mr, Mrs Ms and child contests. In 1983
two were again held and the following year four were held. These were organized by
different groups - Fire Brigade, Community Hall Committee, Inverloch Carnival Committee
and 3MP. Eulalie encouraged the audience to recall if they had attended any of the
Contests or had they entered or even been Miss Inverloch!! Five members responded with
interesting comments but none owning to have been Miss Inverloch! We would be pleased to
hear from anyone who has recollections of these Contests. An audiotape of Eulalie's talk
is available (5674 2796)

Inverloch Name Day (1889) celebration was held on 1/12/2002 when 20
members met and enjoyed dinner together at Inverloch Chinese Restaurant.

15/12/2002 some members visited the site of the "Amazon" at
Wreck Beach. Les James and Bob Young have assisted in locating the site of this wreck but
we hope one day the remnants of it may yet be exposed. The "Amazon was wrecked on
15/12/1863.

We are saddened to report the passing of our member, Jack Phillips on
28/12/2002. Jack had a long association with both Wonthaggi and Inverloch and had
contributed much to our Society. We extend our sympathy to his family. Vale Jack!

A report from our web site: Len Cuttriss recently heard from his
relatives in Ireland who had read the report of his talk from our June meeting via the
web.

Preliminary notice: Sunday 23 March a walk will be held to visit the
"Magnat" wreck at Venus Bay. More details nearer the time.

Acquisitions: Wire clothes pegs known as "gypsy" clothes pegs
from Jaques Drent (c.1914 - 1938). "Casting the Net" Early fishing families of
the Gippsland Coast by Lakes Entrance Family History Resource Centre. This book includes
the story of Frank Newman and his family. Newmans were fishermen from Pound Creek and
Inverloch. Available from our Library (5674 2796).

IN SEARCH OF GEORGE WRIGLEY: CONTINUED

In 1890 there was a Wrigley Street and a Laycock Street in Inverloch!
Laycock Street ran parallel with Sandymount Avenue, some 100 feet to the west from
opposite a'Beckett Street to Venus Street. Wrigley Street was at right angles to
Sandymount Avenue, opposite the present Hillside Avenue. Wrigley and Laycock Streets were
"lost" when this area was re-subdivided by Ellen Sophia Clerk in 1902.
(contributed by Ken Howsam).

This month our speaker will be Mr. Keith Blackley, who will
speak about his early Inverloch days. All welcome to attend.

At last month's meeting, Eulalie Brewster spoke of receiving a copy of
an old letter from Lindsay Olden, entitled "Inverloch: How to get there and what to
see - March 1909". Eulalie then read this long interesting letter - here, only the
topics in it are mentioned: Inverloch is a little known place, once called Anderson Inlet;
the Wiberg gold robbery and eluding the police; Inverloch, to get there take the 6.30 am
train to Outtrim from Melbourne; comments on the countryside and towns seen from the train
arriving Outtrim 11 am; transfer to horse and carriage driven by Mr. Graham whose wife ran
the accommodation house in Kathryn Close where they were to stay; arrived 2.00 pm;
Inverloch is quiet and clean and has 50 - 60 houses, 2 hotels and one coffee palace; day's
trip on a motor yacht "Dora", fishing in the Inlet and sailing up the Tarwin
River - run by Capt. W. Anderson, cost 2/-; visit to Eagles Nest rock and The Caves;
drives to the surrounding countryside. The letter concludes, "In due time we arrived
home and want to go again." Later is may be possible to publish this letter in full
so all may read the full text - it would be well worth it! An audiotape of Eulalie's
reading is available from Nancye on 5674 2796. We were pleased to welcome several new
members and visitors to our meeting.

Grants were received from Bass Coast Shire Council toward the production
of the "Inverloch & District Newsletter" and the costs of Inverloch's
celebration of Australia Day. Norm Deacon, our Secretary, publishes the above newsletter
fortnightly from December to April. The next issue is out 25 February.

Walks to historic sites held in January were conducted by Eulalie
Brewster with an average attendance of 20 walkers.

At the Angling Club Market Day, display boards depicting Inverloch's
early history attracted interest. Our cards and books were also on sale. Thanks to those
who manned the stall.

EXCURSION:

On Sunday 23 March we will visit the "MAGNAT" WRECK (1902) at
Venus Bay. Meet at RSL Hall by 8.00 am and share cars or at Venus Bay Surf Lifesaving
Club, No. 1 Beach at 8.45 am. This is a 3.3 km (6.6 km return) walk. Visits to the relic
and grave of Captain Ostermann will follow. A commemorative booklet will be available.

Report from Ken Howsam on our web site - 5 hits:

1. Request for information on William Stratton died 1945 aged 75.

2. Enquiry on "Pine Lodge". Stayed there 1976 & 1979. Had
viewed the list of photographs and requested copies. Request referred to donor.

3. Enquiry from somebody in Paynesville, regarding membership.

4. A gentleman based in London & Rome, after viewing web, sent
E-mail photograph of camping at Inverloch foreshore in 1925 and wrote that he had attended
Inverloch Primary School with Ruth Tipping's daughter, Christine.

5. Enquiry on William Wyeth and the whereabouts of the original cross
from his WWI war grave.

Should you be able to assist with any information on the above
enquiries, please contact Dr. Ken Howsam on 5674 2581.

We plan to hold another bus excursion to our surrounding districts in
May. We have visited Outtrim, Jumbunna, Korumburra and Kongwak to date. Do you have a
suggestion where next we visit - bring your suggestion to the next meeting.

BOOK SALES:

Should you wish to purchase any of our publications, they are available
from Inverloch Newsagency, The Bunurong Environment Centre Bookshop, The Sea Shed or from
Audrey Carter, our distributor (5674 2763).

Our speakers this month will be Mr. Gordon Catt, who will
speak about the years he has spent in Inverloch. Gordon has been involved with work at
the jetty and boat ramp and will mention the problems in that area. We will also
hear from Wally Kayzer who will tell of his experience cattle-driving to Snake Island.
All are welcome to attend.

Last meeting Keith Blackley was our speaker and he reflected on his
family. Grandfather, Thomas Mitchell Blackley, was a coalminer in Scotland and in 1882,
aged 22, came to Australia. After working in Townsville, Maitland and Newcastle, he
travelled to Melbourne and embarked on the "Ripple" for Inverloch. Arriving
there, he then walked to Outtrim - there he worked in the mine, later moving to the mine
at Wonthaggi. Keith's father, Thomas Edward Blackley, started work in the mine's
engineering shop in 1914. Some of the lads he worked with were Bob Redford, Alan Pearson
and Harry Masters. He and his brothers forged the track out to Cape Paterson with a cart
loaded with camping gear, pulling it through the scrub. His father was in the Miners Union
Brass Band, the State Coalmine Band and even competed at Ballarat. He was also interested
in motor cycles. He met and married May Plant of Benalla, and the family lived in
Melbourne. Keith remembered a holiday to Wonthaggi, driving down in an old Overland Tourer
car. On arrival he went to the Bilson Street School for 2 weeks. They travelled by train
to Kilcunda to the Mine Picnic - that day three young people were washed off the rocks and
drowned. They visited Eagles Nest and Shack Bay where Keith's uncle had a hut and they
slept on hessian bags threaded through two poles for bunks. Keith trained as a plumber
working in Melbourne. He often visited Wonthaggi for dances at the Town Hall and Sunday
pictures. After marrying Eve he settled at Nunawading, teaching plumbing at Collingwood
Technical School, transferred to Wonthaggi and later Leongatha. Keith then bought land in
Inverloch and built his house - he spoke of the neighbours who helped them settle into the
town and the kindness and hospitality they received from Inverlochians! At a later date,
we will tell you about Keith's days in Inverloch. An audiotape is available if you missed
this meeting (5674 2796).

On Proclamation Day (8/2/1886) anniversary, a group of members met for
dinner to celebrate the occasion.

The South Eastern Historical Association meeting was held at Koo Wee Rup
recently and attended by Norm and Betty Deacon. Inverloch will be the venue for their
meeting next summer, which will coincide with our Proclamation Day celebration on
8/2/2004.

You may have seen the old photograph of children at the Pound Creek
School, c. 1903-4. We had it restored last year and displayed asking for help in
identifying them. Dorothy Beard sought the help of Alwyn Hales and we now have four
identified. John McCaughan (Bn. 1889) and his three younger sisters.

Easter Egg Raffle will be held at our next meeting. Tickets $1 each.
Come prepared!

Other Items

Audrey Carter, Thelma Kee and Dawn Wangman have been invited to attend
Committee Meetings for the balance of this year.

As mentioned in our last Newsletter, we are hoping to hold two
excursions during this year - the first in May. Do you have a suggestion where we can
visit next? Ruth Tipping would like to hear from you!!

BOOK SALES:

Our publications are available from the Inverloch Newsagency, The
Bunurong Centre Bookshop, The Sea Shed or from Audrey Carter our distributor (5674 2763),
or at our meeting.

In lieu of the normal meeting this month, a bus trip has been arranged to San
Remo and Phillip Island. The visit will include the Vietnam Museum Woolamai,
Cowes Heritage Centre, and Newhaven. Cost is $5.00 excluding entry costs. Bring
your lunch or buy it. The bus will leave the V-Line bus stop at 9.30 am on
Wednesday, 23/4/2003. Bookings are essential. Contact Ruth Tipping 5674 3319 or
Norm Deacon 5674 1717. All welcome!

Gordon Catt spoke at our la st meeting. Gordon's first recollection of
Inverloch was in 1949 when the family camped on the foreshore in front of
Wyeth's place, and later at Eagles Nest. A house, built by Allan Cloak's father
in Grandview Grove was bought in 1954, which his aunt still owns. To walk to the
beach, you walked across bush blocks and came out in Pier Road and down to "Pop"
Hitchen's place - the pier was a few yards away and the water there was 20 feet
deep. About 5 years ago when digging a water main, they dug into the pylons of
the old pier, some eaten away by torredo worms, but still under the car park.
The town's original water supply came from Albert Ruttle's dam and brought water
to the Pub. Later a bore supplied water to a tank on the foreshore (near where
the pumping station is) and this was pumped to supply users. In 1950s
reticulated water was installed using a 2" water pipe service. The sewerage
system was constructed in 1980 and pumping stations installed at Screw Creek,
Pier Road, Ramsay Boulevard, Lohr Avenue, Eagles Nest on to Cape Paterson for
biological breakdown, and then for discharge at Wonthaggi. Gordon spoke and
illustrated some of the boat ramp problems - the sand and now the deep hole.
Investigations are being conducted on sand movement and currents. It is urgent
that a new ramp be built. Thank you Gordon! An audio tape of Gordon's talk is
available (5674 2796).

Wally Kayzer from Buffalo also spoke at the meeting on cattle crossing to
Snake Island. Looking across from Port Welshpool jetty is Little Snake Island,
the main island is about 10 times the size and another channel over. George Bass
could have walked on it during his explorations, but in 1841 the "Clonmel", a
luxury vessel sailing between Sydney, Melbourne and Launceston, was wrecked at
the entrance to Port Albert and a camp was set
up on Snake Island. This brought people to Port Albert and in four years
land-runs were taken up. Many settlers were Scots - perhaps they knew of such a
crossing at the Isle of Skye. They came from Omeo, Benambra and Lakes Entrance,
needing a cattle holding near to Port Albert as boats were not always waiting to
load. It is not known how well utilised the Islands were. Graziers tried to
claim leases on them; they were dissected into 600-acre blocks - then they
realised there was only one water hole there. A Port Albert man acquired all the
blocks and ran it for sometime. When land selection was available around Foster
area most were 60 - 90 acre blocks. Due to vegetation clearance in the hills it
was very cold in winter - grass didn't grow - Snake Island was the answer. In
1908 it was opened up for agistment, running 2500 cattle on it - each farmer
allocated 25 cattle to bring down. They assembled at Port Welshpool and a man
called "the pilot" was entrusted to get the cattle across, and they are still
doing this at present. Cattle keep the undergrowth down and lessen fire hazards.
The walk across is at low tide once a fortnight. Accommodation is a shed used as
a dormitory for 30 cattlemen. The Island is also known as La Trobe Island. Thank
you Wally! A tape of Wally's talk is also available.

The Easter raffle was donated and organised by Kath Bendle and Bill Grieve at
the meeting and raised over $65. N. Durham won the basket of eggs and champagne.
Thanks to Kath & Bill.

In May, the Inverloch Uniting Church will be celebrating the centenary of the
dedication of the Outtrim Presbyterian Church. Built in 1902, it was dedicated
for worship in 1903. It was moved to the William Street site, in 1954, where it
became St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Inverloch. It became the Uniting Church
in 1983. The building was rolled down the block, brick veneered with additions
and renovations made and then re-dedicated for worship.

The visit to the "Magnat" wreck at Venus Bay was held on 23/3/2002 at 8.30
am. Twelve walkers, including three visitors, went and report the wreck was
clearly exposed. Lunch was enjoyed at the long table in Tarwin Lower where a
spar from the mast is now located.

Bernie Hayes will be the speaker at this month's
meeting. Bernie a long time resident of the district, will speak about Miss
Inverloch Contests and New Year Day's activities. All are welcome to attend.

Last month, we went out visiting San Remo and
Phillip Island in lieu of our normal meeting. Travelling in Ross Wise's bus, on
a superb autumn day, we visited the Vietnam War Museum in San Remo and then went
to the Fishermen's Co-op at the jetty and watched the pelicans being fed. After
lunching at the foreshore reserve we continued through the mutton bird rookeries
at Woolamai to peer through the fence into the Grand Prix Motor Sports Circuit -
Ross knew just the spot to take us! We had a good view of the circuit and
motorcyclists practising on it. When racing, they can reach speeds of 350 kph
and cut back to about 270 on the bends. On arrival at the Cowes Cultural Centre,
some decided to visit the Art Gallery, whilst others chose the Historical
Society's Museum. We were welcomed to the Museum by Julie Box. Julie then spoke
to us on the early history of the Island which included the early exploration of
the coast, the aborigines of the area and the early settlers and developments.
The Island became a Ward in 1871 and a Shire in 1928. We watched a video
depicting some of the areas, after which, we were able to wander about and view
their displays and exhibits. Ruth Tipping thanked Julie and the staff. The
Museum is well worth visiting when you are next on the Island!! We visited The
Big Flower Farm, and the Dairy Centre where there are interesting exhibits of
early dairying, milk carts and machinery. We toured Newhaven driving by the
College and the boat marina before heading homeward. At San Remo, Ross drove
through some of the new housing estates and Punchbowl area where we enjoyed the
beautiful scenery - so ended an interesting and most enjoyable day!

Eulalie Brewster participated, on 13 March, in the
ABC radio programme on place names. "Inverloch" was the name under discussion
and Eulalie was able to present the local interpretation.

The Inverloch Picnic Reserve, located on The
Esplanade, has been officially renamed and is now to be known as The Glades
Picnic Ground.

Continuing Keith Blackley's talk from Issue 74:
(February 2003 meeting). Keith joined the Angling Club, he played cricket for 4
years with Inverloch and Badminton in the old Mechanics Hall. He joined the
Inverloch Fire Brigade and served with it for 25 years. In the 35 years Keith
has lived here he has seen Inverloch grow from a little beach town with one pub,
three guest houses "Pine Lodge", "Two Views" and "Nelson's". He recalled Banks
Brothers butchers shops - the flywire wall in Leo's shop with the sliding door
to pass the meat through to the customer and to keep the blowflies out. Keith
talked about the entertainment and a mock Deb Ball organised by the Angling
Club, fancy dress balls and dances and the good fun they enjoyed in those days.
Fortunately, memories and photographs are there to remind us of what was and
still is a beautiful place to live.

Book sales:

Our publications are available from the Inverloch
Newsagency, The Bunurong Centre Bookshop, The Sea Shed or from our distributor,
Audrey Carter (5674 2763) or at our meeting.

Lindsay Olden will speak on Outtrim at this month's meeting. The Olden
family was one of the earliest settlers in the Outtrim district. All are welcome
to attend.

At our last meeting, Bernie Hayes spoke on his work at the Wonthaggi State
Coal Mine. When Bernie first left school he worked for a while on Thorn's milk
round and later went to work in Melbourne. Missing his mates, he returned to
work in the Mine. Bernie spoke of the various areas and different types of work
he did there. One was pulling out the stone from the coal on the screen. Skips
were weighed at the top and miners were paid by the coal's weight - some
shrewdly included some stone for extra weight! They were fined for putting stone
into the skips. Stone was thrown into Lizzie and taken to the Dump at Western
Area. As a 17-year-old he worked underground and admitted he was frightened at
first. His jobs included clipping the skips on and sending them back up the
shaft, then handling full skips and working with the winch driver. On one
occasion the rope broke and 18 full skips came crashing past and just missed
hitting him. Bernie spoke of the horses used in the mine work - the pit ponies
were always first up, knew their job and were well cared for. Bernie told of his
fondness for the horses. Many of the miners were jockeys for the local horse
racing. Mannix and Joe O'Brien, farmers, and Doug Veal also rode as jockeys.
There were SP Bookmakers in Wonthaggi in those days. Bernie mentioned that he
organised the Miss Inverloch New Year Carnivals from 1958 to 1968. In Wonthaggi
he was involved in football, arranged boxing tournaments, Life Saving at Cape
Paterson, and raced greyhounds. For 20 years prior to retirement he worked in
insurance. He had many other interests in Wonthaggi. An audiotape of Bernie's
talk is available (5674 2796)

Australian Centenary Awards were recently made and we congratulate our
Patron, Eulalie Brewster, on receiving her award for service to local history
research and writing and to ornithology; also to our member, Dr. John Williams,
for long service to medicine and the indigenous community; and to Daryl Hook and
John Cuttriss for their awards. Lyn Chambers of Wonthaggi Historical Society was
awarded the "Lifetime Achievement Award" by Museums Australia (Victoria) and the
Centenary Medal - our congratulations to Lyn on this well-deserved honour!!

Do you have suggestions for the official naming of the road to the Inverloch
Transfer Station? We had a few suggestions at the meeting but what would YOU
suggest? Please advise Norm Deacon.

Plaques & Memorials Project

Angling Club details have been completed by
Ruth Tipping. Ken Howsam has updated our files with this information. Mavis
Parks has completed the details of the Inverloch Bowling Club and Ken will input
this to our files. Well done and thank you to Ruth, Mavis and Ken!!!

Acquisitions

"The First 30 Years 1961 - 1991, A History of the Inverloch Bowling Club"
from the President.

Thank you to these donors!

Annual Subscriptions fall due on 30 June 2003 ($12). If you have not yet
joined now is the right time! We need your support.

The Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday, 23 July, 2003. The
Annual Report and Financial Statement will be presented, followed by the
election of office-bearers and Committee members. Members should give
consideration to nominating candidates (who must be financial members) for
election.

Ken Howsam reported, to our last meeting, on a mystery recently solved. This
report will be in next month’s issue.

This month's meeting will be a "Show and Tell". Please bring along
memorabilia to show and tell of its connection and/or significance. It may be a
postcard, photograph, painting, poem, newspaper article or souvenir, etc. Bring
it and share your story.

The 7th Annual General Meeting will be held at this meeting. The Annual
Report and Financial Statement and Balance Sheet will be presented. The election
of Office-bearers and Committee for the ensuing year will follow (those
nominated for these positions must be current financial members).

Last month Lindsay Olden spoke on Outtrim - the town and mines - and showed
slides of the town. The Olden family came to Outtrim in 1888 and the Foots (his
mother's family) in 1912. Lindsay was born and grew up in Outtrim. He told of
the land in 1850s when the area from the coast to Korumburra hills, to Western
Port Bay, to Cape Liptrap, some 260,000 acres, was known as the "Wild Cattle
Run" (cattle absconded from the early Corinella Settlement). In 1860, Eastern
Victoria was thrown open for selection and the settlers came and farms gradually
developed as land was covered in thick scrub and huge blue gums, some 60 feet
high. Jumbunna East included land that became Outtrim. In 1890 the first coal
seam was found and a few years later Arthur Johnson discovered a 4½-foot seam.
Three leases were taken up - Outtrim Coal Company 1892, Howitt Coal Mining
Company 1893 and South Outtrim Murray Stirling Amalgamated Coal Company 1894.
Coal went by bullock wagon to Jumbunna Station until the railway extended to
Outtrim. Railway cuttings are still visible. The Victorian Government was buying
inferior coal from NSW and wanted the mines opened up as the coal was of better
quality. Later NSW cut their price. Strikes were common, working conditions poor
and wages reduced due to the fall in coal prices. The worst strike, in 1903,
lasted 18 months and caused much hardship and Outtrim mine never really
recovered. Before this, Outtrim was the biggest mine in Victoria employing 650
men. The main mine closed in 1916 after producing 1,374,825 tons of coal. Many
small mines still continued to operate. Outtrim was a thriving town with Post
Office, Police, Shops, Friday night shopping, Aladdin lamps, 2 hotels, several
wine saloons, large public hall, clubs, all Churches, a newspaper, bank,
racecourse, racing club, band, lodges, cheese factory and a cemetery. Shire
records (1901) showed there were 323 houses, 1700 people in the town and 2500 in
1902. The School had 347 pupils in 1903. In the fires of 1912-13 there was no
fire brigade or town water supply. Today at the recreation ground there is a
cricket club, tennis courts, pistol club and a community hall. Some new houses
have recently been built at Outtrim. Many thanks Lindsay for your talk.

We welcomed Elsie & Bruce McMasters, from the Morwell Society, to our
meeting. Bruce spoke briefly about his family's connection (Youl) with the
Inverloch district and this story will be included in a later issue.

Notes on previous issue

From Bernie Hayes: From 1958-1968 Bernie Hayes organised and bought supplies
for the Miss Inverloch Competition. Mr. Millard was President of the Foreshore
Committee.

From Wilma Hoppen: Coleman and Clough did the Carnival in the 1950s. David
and Wilma Hoppen organised it from 1958 to 1961. After that it shifted off the
beach to the Picnic Ground, then to the Recreation Ground and closed down from
there.

Have you visited the display case in the Arcade recently? It features a
colour plate from The Weekly Times "Wild Nature Series 1932-34". This book had
54 colour plates missing. The book has been restored - thanks to the work of Bob
Newton. We appreciate Bob's continued interest and help.

PLEASE NOTE NEW MEETING TIMES 2.30 - 4.30 pm- During winter months, we are starting and finishing our meetings
earlier. Cuppa available at 2.15 pm. The speaker for this month will be John
Sullivan from Inverloch. John will speak on steam trains. All are welcome to
attend!

Last month we held a "Show & Tell" meeting. A wide variety of interesting
memorabilia and stories were presented. Would you believe that we had fourteen
speakers!! Items presented included 1930 local photographs, chrome cyclinder hot
water bottle, a bottle of "Moons Emerald Oil", candle trimmer, pressure gauges,
a surprise spoon, poetry book 155 years old, Mum & Dad's love letters (not
read), Programme for "Dive - Bombers Revue" for the Woorayl War Effort and a
plaque from a dray used by Ernest James McBurnie, farmer, from Tarwin Lower (the
McBurnie-Boag Road is named after this family). Our thanks to all who
participated in the meeting - you did well!!

The 7th Annual General Meeting was held last month. The audited Financial
Statement and Balance Sheet was presented by the Treasurer, Mavis Parks. The
President, Ruth Tipping, reported on some of the year's activities and thanked
all for their support. Office-bearers elected for 2003-04 are; President Ruth
Tipping, Vice-President Nancye Durham, Treasurer Mavis Parks, Secretary Norman
Deacon. Committee: Kath Bendle, Helen Jones. Immediate Past President Peter
Allen. Our Patron is Eulalie Brewster. Ken Howsam, who has been our Registrar
for the past seven years, has retired from this position. Ken was thanked for
his work in initiating and maintaining our Registers on the InMagic System. Ken
has also been responsible for photography, display boards and has helped many
with their genealogical searches. Helen Jones has accepted the task of
Registrar.

Ken Howsam recently solved a mystery involving the entry on Captain Augustus
Anderson's gravestone in the old Inverloch Cemetery, regarding details of his
wife's death. Unfortunately the marker is in pieces and the details are not
legible. Search of the Victorian Births, Deaths and Marriages Register revealed
that Captain Anderson married Sarah McAllister in 1886 but the entry of her
death could not be found. Common reasons why entries cannot be found are where
the death did not occur in Victoria or the local registration entry is lost in
transmission to Melbourne. Helen Wright surveyed the Cemetery in 1990 but found
no entry of Sarah's death and more recently it was reviewed by Ken Howsam
without success. Our member, Hazel Hayes, decided to search back issues of
Wonthaggi newspapers and found reports of Sarah's death and funeral. Noelene
Lyons of Wonthaggi Genealogy Group, then found details of the grave site and an
entry in the Death Register Index. Sarah Ann Anderson was born at sea between
England and France. She was a colonist of 42 years, arriving in 1875. Her father
was John Willard and her mother Sarah Yapps. She was 17 years older than Captain
Anderson and a widow when she married him - this accounts for the difficulty in
finding the entry of her death in the Register. She died on 11 November 1917,
aged 81 years. Unanswered questions: Where and when did she marry McAllister and
was she a widow when she arrived in Australia in 1875?

The moral of this story is that assumptions are often misleading and
persistence wins the day!!! Good work Hazel, Noelene and Ken and thanks for
persisting!

In lieu of our normal meeting this month, we will travel to Foster,
visiting the Museum, Foster Landing, Wind Farm and Agnes Falls. The bus will
leave at 9.30 am from V-Line Bus Stop. BYO (or buy) food and drinks. Cost $10
including entry fee. Friends, family and children (accompanied by adult) are
welcome. Booking is essential - 5674 3319 or 5674 1717.

Last month, John Sullivan, former train driver, spoke to us on his
experience with Vic Rail steam trains based at Korumburra. Using a chart, John
told how the engine worked in conjunction with the driving wheels. Early
railways did not consider the driver's comfort - in England, it was 40
years before a cabin was attached and in USA cabins were used to stop Indians
shooting the driver! The standard gauge problems were caused by NSW.
Williamstown and Newport Workshops operated from the 1900s and all Victorian
engines were built there. Steam trains were run on Maitland coal as it had an
excellent high gas content but due to NSW coalminers’ strikes, Victoria was left
without coal. Jumbunna and Outtrim coal took over but the gas content was much
lower. The Melbourne to Korumburra line was difficult to travel due to swamps
and hills. The Railway was extended from Nyora to Woolamai and on to Wonthaggi
when the coalmine opened in 1910. John worked for 6 years on most lines in
Melbourne until 1956. In 1977, when the line closed, John drove the last train
out of Wonthaggi. Many questions were asked by railway and engine enthusiasts.
Thank you John!

Telstra Country Wide representative, Joe Borg, attended the meeting
and spoke on the Telstra Submarine Optical Fibre Cable. This cable was laid
across Bass Strait from Stanley (Tas.) to Inverloch in May 2003 - known as Bass
Strait 2 project. This cable replaced digital radio paths via King and Flinders
Islands as the primary back-up technology for Bass Strait I project. The first
cable was installed in 1995 from Boat Harbour (Tas.) to Sandy Point (Vic.) and
is known as Bass Strait I project. The cable was installed by a purpose-built
cable vessel, The Ile de Batz which is capable of carrying 3,300 cubic metres of
cable. A special cable burial device is towed behind the vessel and guided by
telemetry technology, to install the cable along the predetermined and approved
seabed route. On behalf of Telstra, Joe presented the Society with a
commemorative wall plaque with a sample of the submarine optical fibre cable
encased; a boxed pictorial record of the Bass Strait 2 installation and a
separate mounted sample of the submarine cable. These items will be on display
at the October meeting for you to see and read the full text. The Society thanks
Telstra for this presentation and appreciated Joe Borg's talk on the Bass Strait
2 project to our members.

We are pleased to report the following members have accepted reappointment to
the Committee: Betty Deacon, Audrey Carter, Bill Grieve and Thelma Kee. Anne De
Salvo and Kathy Edmonds have takenover the afternoon tea duties for us.

Newsletter Delivery

Do you have an E-Mail address. If so, would you
prefer to receive the Newsletter via it? Please advise us.

Acquisitions

Six board games from Hazel Hayes

Metal-framed mirror with photograph of Eagles Nest (c.1943) on reverse
side from Frank Eeles

Map showing site of Lance Creek School from Hazel Hayes

Thank you to these donors.

Christmas Hamper Raffle

We would appreciate donations of goods for this hamper which is being
organised by Kath Bendle and Bill Grieve. Tickets will be on sale at meetings in
October/November.

Nicole Evered will speak at this month's meeting. In 1991, the dinosaur
site at Inverloch's Flat Rocks area was opened by Monash University staff.
Nicole has been a volunteer and has spent many summer days at the "dig"
splitting open rocks hoping to find fossil bones for the palaeontologists. You
are invited to come and hear of that work and the results. All are welcome to
attend.

Last month, no formal meeting was held - instead, on a very windy day, we
boarded the bus to visit Foster, Toora and Agnes Falls. Ross Wise, our driver
has lived and worked in South Gippsland for many years and gave an interesting
commentary on the towns of Meeniyan and Stony Creek as we drove around them and
other places as we passed by. On arrival at Foster, Graeme Wheeler, secretary of
Foster Historical Society & Museum, boarded the bus and spoke on the early
history of Stockyard Creek. Giant mountain ash, bluegum and blackwood trees grew
in the forest with dense ti-tree along thecoastline and edged in many
places with mangrove swamps. There was a great need for a stock route to be
opened up from Port Albert to Western Port and a stockyard was constructed on
the creek’s west bank and became known as Stockyard Creek. In about 1884, the
name changed to Foster - William Henry Foster was Police Magistrate at Sale,
Mining Warden and Gold Commissioner for Gippsland. In 1870 timber cutters
required licences. A schooner was wrecked on Snake island and a Crown Land
ranger found split blackwood palings washed up on the beach. The ranger had
heard that timber splitters had come from Melbourne and were near Stockyard
Creek and went to investigate. The 4 or 5 men fled with police following. For an
alibi, the men began prospecting for gold - and found it! Alluvial gold mining
began and a gold rush hit the town. In just over 3 years the mines yielded over
30,000 ounces of gold. We then visited the Historical Society and Museum, formed
in 1973, it is now housed in the old Foster Post Office. It has impressive
displays of the district's development, shown in documents, photographs and
artefacts and we wandered through viewing them. The Museum is well worth
visiting. Ruth thanked Graeme Wheeler and staff. At Foster there is a
self-guided walk to significant gold era sites which is known as "The Golden
Trail". Have you walked it?

After lunch, we drove to Toora and over the hills to Agnes Falls. The Falls
are part of the Toora Water Catchment Area and there is a pathway and viewing
platform - the Falls drop 59 metres. We returned and stopped at Silcock's Hill,
where the "Toora Wind" farm is located. Few emerged from the bus to read the
information board as the wind was blowing gale-force. At Toora we went to the
Stanwell office and sat in comfort as slides were shown and explained and our
questions answered. The windmills comprise a tapered steel tower 67 metres high,
3 blades each 33 metres long made of glass fibre attached to a rotor, turbines
and generator which convert wind to electricity. Annually this produces 21
megawatts and powers 6,600 homes. Greenhouse gas savings are given as 48,000
tonnes. The project has cost $35 million. We headed home through Port Franklin
and Foster Beach. Our thanks to Ross Wise and Ruth Tipping for making our day!

Christmas Hamper Raffle

We would appreciate donations of goods for this hamper. It would help to have
goods brought to this meeting to enable Kath and Bill to organise the hamper.
Tickets will be on sale at the meeting.

Newsletter Delivery

This month will be our final meeting for the year. Speakers will be
some of our members recalling their early Christmases and some snippets of
history. We hope you will participate in this programme too! The meeting will
conclude with afternoon tea. Please bring a plate of goodies to share.
Sandwiches and drinks will be supplied. All welcome to attend.

Last month, Nicole Evered, who has worked at Inverloch's dinosaur dig site at
Flat Rocks for many summers, spoke to our meeting. She gave us an insight of the
work done for six weeks through February and has now operated there for ten
years. We heard how she became a fossil fossicker in the greatest treasure hunt.
It is conducted by Monash University Earth Sciences who are licensed annually by
Parks Victoria to conduct the dig. The first bone found here was in 1903 when
the "Cape Patterson Claw" was found by W. H. Ferguson, a government surveyor
looking for coal. In 1970, John Long and Tim Flannery looked at Ferguson's maps
and notes and visited the area. They found part of an anklebone, astragalus.
Mike Cleeland with a team from Monash University did a prospect along the
coastline and found some dinosaur bones. In ten years since the dig started
10,500 bones and teeth have been lifted from the site. In 1996, Nicole was
fortunate to find a little jaw with all its teeth in it and little baby teeth
that hadn't erupted in place. Palaeontologists did not actually declare what it
was until 1999, when they said it was from a hypsilophodont dinosaur. It was
compared world wide and it was not the same as any previously found. So it
became a dinosaur species to be identified and named from the Inverloch site as
Quantassaurus Intrepidus. It was a plant eater and the teeth wear down and when
it shed a tooth a new one would erupt to replace it. The other find, which put
Inverloch site on the map, was made by Nicola Barton on 8/3/1997. When the team
are unable to get down onto the beach they work back at the home base. They put
down a tarpaulin and sit around it, each with a stump with a brick
on it and
break up the rocks searching for anything in it. Nicola found a little piece of
bone 16 mm long, checked it under the microscope and found it had teeth with
points on them. Such teeth are from mammal. Lelsey Kool, a preparator from
Monash, was responsible for carving and extricating this bone from the rock.
Then moulds of it were made and casts made. In 1997, it was declared the oldest
placental mammal in Australia and possibly the world but it has now been
superceded. This specimen was named Ausktribosphenos Nyktos. We heard how the
team is organised - their housing, the catering and its problems and the overall
costs involved - both physical and monetary. Nicole invited
us to come down and visit the site when it is operational in February. We thank
Nicole very much - an audio tape of her talk is available should you have missed
the meeting (Nancye 5674 2796).

The eastern bathing enclosure, in 1913, was situated where the Bowling Club
car park is now. Recently, some posts of the back wall of the baths have been
exposed and Stan Stubbs has offered to mark this significant area with a plaque.
The original plan of the Inverloch Mechanics Institute (1897) has been located
and we hope to be able to view these shortly. A recent letter from Mr Jack
Weston recalled memories of the "Manawatu" which was stranded on the bar in
1910. As a small boy he watched from their verandah as his father worked on
helping to refloat the vessel.

Our Christmas hamper raffle is being held. Tickets will be available at the
meeting (3 for $2 or $1 each) and also on sale outside the Tatts Lotto shop on
mornings of 12 & 19 December. Donations of goods for the hamper would be
appreciated and could be brought to the next meeting to enable Kath and Bill to
organize the hamper. Thank you for your support.

Membership Subscriptions

A reminder to those who have not paid their 2003-04 subs - we need your
financial support. Please see Mavis Parks, Treasurer.